Dan Barger long has been a community journalist, starting as a reporter/editor in Jefferson County, moving on to cover politics and write editorials in south St. Louis, managing newsrooms in West and North County and becoming the editorial director for the Suburban Journals of Greater St. Louis. Barger also served two stints as a Journal newspaper publisher, in Monroe County, Ill. and in Jefferson County, Mo.
Along the way Barger has covered a wide diversity of stories, from the achievements of neighborhood people to the follies at a variety of city halls to the efforts by community groups to make their hometown a better place. Barger was recognized as the Suburban Journalist of the Year by Suburban Newspapers of America for his stories on the presidential aspirations of Dick Gephardt, his coverage of a two-month conspiracy trial in St. Louis and his profiles on the people in south St. Louis. Golf has been a big part of Barger's life, from caddying in the U.S. Open at Bellerive CC, editor the Gateway Golfer magazine and the Gateway PGA, working as a photographer at the PGA Championship, also at Bellerive, and touring all the local links where his game is not aging gracefully. Barger and his wife, Carolyn, who live on a high ridge in Fenton, have two children, Nathan and Savannah.